A Thousand Years Worth of Cherry Blossoms
by SHiR0HIME
Summary: Kanda Yuu has always protected all those around him, when the person that used to protect him returns to the Order after five years. Kanda Yuu will have to save Yondaime Amaya from her own guilt and protect her from herself. KandaXOC. Rated T. R&R!
1. Prologue: The Begining

**A Thousand Years Worth of Cherry Blossoms**

a fan-fiction based off Katsura Hoshino's -man

Prologue: The Beginning

Setting, Black Order Asia Branch. Nine years before actual plotline.

Soft footsteps sounded across the hallways, probably coming from the trainee scientists who were returning to their dorms after hours of training. It was night time in the Black Order's Asian Branch. A young girl sat on the ledge of the balcony of her own set of rooms, one of her legs propped up and the other left dangling dangerously outside the ledge. In her hand was her set of orders from Headquarters, she would leave tomorrow, at dawn, before anyone got up. The wind tousled her black hair now given blue highlights due to the moon light; she sighed and ran her hand through her hair, shivering slightly.

"Amaya..."

The girl immediately tensed up at the sound of her name, which snapped her out of her deep thoughts. Her body immediately tensed up and slipped into a crouch, an immediate action she had developed over the years, and a split second later she realised that she was being ridiculous, who would attack her here? But the thought still remained, the door creaked open and she relaxed the moment she saw it was only the young boy she trained just hours before. It was Kanda Yuu.

Kanda Yuu was one of the youngest Exorcists she had met so far. Nine years old and already ready to face the Akuma, when Amaya arrived to the Asia Branch, he was already here. Making it seem that he had been here his entire life. Amaya had taught him the basics of self defence, but she knew that becoming too attached to the boy would only cause the both of them pain later in their lives, Hence she had tried to distance herself from him ever since she found out she was leaving.

"What is it Yuu-chan?" She asked jumping off the railing and walking towards him.

"I heard you were leaving."

The older one immediately stopped, he _knew_ and it was no use denying. "Yuu..."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" He yelled furiously. His head was bent and his bangs covering his eyes, but in moonlight this bright, his tears sparkled. He was crying...

Amaya's heart wrenched itself, she wanted nothing more than to wipe his tears and hold him... But she couldn't....

The girl reached her hand out towards him, only to have him slap it away. "Why..?"He repeated. "Why don't you tell me anything anymore!?" he knuckled his eyes furiously.

Amaya felt something swell up in her chest. Emotions that were buried seemed to stir in this boy's presence. Some emotion that was meant to have been removed seemed to awaken, this boy, had brought out what four painful years of serving the Order tried to kill. But, she wouldn't, no, couldn't get too close to him. He was watched enough as it is and she wouldn't hold onto him or cling onto a boy who was, let's face it, half a decade younger than her. She could have contented herself with caring for him, but years of fighting hardened her, she would not falter this time. She albeit gave him a sad smile and answered.

"Because you needn't worry about me..."

Kanda's eyes widened as the older girl hugged him tightly, so that his own face was tucked into the girl's neck. "You don't need to worry about me, Yuu-chan. I won't die that easily."

"Don't call me-"

The younger boy was silenced as the older girl pulled away and pressed her lips to his forehead. She chuckled when she saw the boy in her arms turn beet red. "I'll be fine, I can take care of myself."

"At least tell me where you're going!" the boy demanded.

"I can't, Leverrier won't let me, and you know that."

"That man... I hate him...."

The older girl laughed again, the boys compared the sound to that of tinkling bells or glass. "Everyone despises that guy, except Howard Link."

She wrapped her arms around the boy again, "Sleep now, it's late."

The boy shook his head, "I want to stay with you..." but at that moment, he let out a yawn.

She chuckled again.

"Okay, I'll let you stay here, just this last time."

All that Kanda Yuu heard at that moment was the door creaking to a shut, and what he felt was him being carried to the older girl's bed and being laid onto the soft sheets. Their bodies pressed together comfortingly, the older girl stroked the boy's hair and sang softly to lull him to sleep. The young boy clung onto the older girl. As much as he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he had gotten much too attached to her and wanted to stay with her. As he stared into the chocolate brown orbs that gazed at him lovingly, his last thought was she would still be here in the morning that came...

* * *

When Kanda Yuu woke up, the sun was already out. And the room that he was in was rather empty. _She did leave..._ He stared at the ceiling. _She wasn't joking after all..._

As he made to get out of the bed his eyes caught sight of something glimmering in the morning sun, with it a note. It was written in his native language and went as followed:

_Dear Yuu,  
I'm sorry for leaving again, the Central Agency has some new mission for me. I won't be reporting back to the Asia Branch anymore as it states. I'll be going to Headquarters, I'm not sure when I'll be able to see you next, but I'm sure we will bump into each other soon. I made you something as well. It's a custom-made Kunai Knife. It's a little heavier than a normal but there's a charm on it. It'll protect you since I'm not around. _

_Yondaime Amaya _

Kanda fingered the knife, he was a little too young to be wielding anything sharp and Amaya knew it. But spending time with the sword-smith, Zhu- sensei, had taught him how to appreciate blades. Running his hand over it he could tell that it was a finely crafted, she must have put a lot of effort into making it...

But having a well-crafted blade would definitely not compensate her actually being _there _with him, however Kanda knew what Leverrier would do to those who did not follow his orders and he suppressed a shudder when the thought crossed his mind.

As he left the room his eyes ran its course around it, the old Chinese style furniture and the every antique that was placed in the room. He would see her again, after all they were both Exorcists.

With that, the door to Yondaime Amaya's room creaked to a shut.

And for the last eight years, it has been always been shut.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Hey Everyone! Thanks for reading the prologue of my story: A Thousand Years Worth of Cherry Blossoms.

Just wanted to clarify a couple of things;

-My oc's name is Yondaime Amaya. Which means –roughly translated- The fourth, Night Rain. She's fifteen in the prologue but eight years later, she's at least twenty-three, making her at least 5-6 years older than Kanda, I will clarify now why I made her older... –to the extent it seems paedophilic? To me Kanda seems like the type that will, sort of, fall for someone who was with him in his past and is older and he looks up too. Actually I made her the same age when I made the original story but I changed it cause of the point above.

-And yes the boy that I keep referring to is Kanda Yuu... And this is a KandaXOC fic.


	2. Chapter 1: Old and Forgotten Allies

D. gray-man does not belong to me, it belongs to Katsura Hoshino. I only own Yondaime Amaya and whatever random OCs that are based of other anime characters.

**Chapter 1, Old and Forgotten Allies**

"_Unable to see through your wandering spirit, unfathomable is the colour of your pupils. I watch your silhouette disappear into the night, I watch the cherry blossoms, waiting to see them bloom. I watch you, embracing me, your eyes lonelier than moonlight. So I will let you be happy in someone else's arms."_

"_Loving you is an untouchable as a heartbeat; in painting you I am unable to paint your skeleton. Remembering your expression is my reason to persist in waiting for you. You are mine, a song I have not finished singing."_

-Painted Heart, Jane Zhang.

* * *

The Witch looked up from her wine glass, an empty wine bottle next to her as she sat on the patio. She was quite beautiful, if she hadn't been, Cross would not have courted her in the first place, one of the last witches who shrouded herself in Asia performing tasks and a supporter of the Order.

She could feel the huge amount of pressure building up from beneath the house, like a coil that was tightened and about to snap. She could feel the girl stirring and struggling, like a butterfly emerging from her cocoon. Just to put it simply, the Exorcist was awakening.

Cross had brought her here to recuperate; he claimed that modern medicine would not help with her case. The wounded exorcist would never have survived if she had been handed back to the Order's medical team. Above all her injuries, her nerves had been damaged till she needed to suspended in a water tank with thick soundproof glass so as not to shock her permanently, truthfully if the science division was able to do this for Amaya, Cross would have handed her over but he didn't trust anyone who was not like him, a sorcerer who would be able to accomplish this task with ease and since the Order couldn't afford to lose another Exorcist, they complied.

She would need to tell Cross, he had waited for his 'idiot apprentice' to wake up for five years now, no doubt he was growing impatient. The Witch smiled. "About time that child woke up."

And she put the glass to her lips.

* * *

Yondaime Amaya couldn't _feel_ anything; much less see anything in front of her. Her eyesight was blurry and she could only see that she was in some capsule. It was cold, it felt like water was all around her, like she was plunged into water and was drifting. Only it didn't feel like she was on the surface, she was _in_ the water. Where _was_ she? Her body felt numb and detached, clumsy and uncoordinated even when she brought her arm in front of her, she felt as if like she had been asleep for a long time, a _very_ long time. Even when she couldn't see or hear anything clearly and even in her disoriented state she remembered Cross's last words, "No matter where you are or what happens, you must find the strength within yourself to open your eyes."

_Innocence Activate._

It was still blurry and she hadn't felt anything move. Her body hadn't reacted, were her nerves _truly _that numb? She knew the consequences of a forced invocation when her nerves and body were not up to it but she knew one thing. She had to get out.

_Activate._

The only thing she could feel was frustration, followed shortly by panic. She furrowed her brow, frustrated. _What was this?_ She knew no person could stay underwater for more than five minutes. She knew how much she could take; desperation seemed to be the most dominant emotion now, she had to get out now.

_Move._

Nothing.

_Move, damn it._

Still nothing.

_Move!_

She heard the wet popping sound of bones dislocating themselves and felt her Innocence twist her backbone she didn't feel the pain yet and she wished she never felt it at all.

The pain of the forced synchronisation seared through her back as she opened her mouth to scream, it throbbed in her head and disoriented her even more, she took a breath only to realise that she was underwater and felt water rush into her windpipe and choked trying to cough out the water now filing her lungs and throat. She thrashed violently, kicking her legs and flailing her arms hoping to hit something when she realised this was going nowhere panic flooded through her system.

_Am I going to die?_

The thought remained as her lungs were flooded with water and she couldn't breathe, the last breath of air in her escaped and she stopped struggling, hunched over she saw black spots swimming in her vision. She felt even more tired than before and it was easy to fade into darkness. She had been living in it for all these years after all, at least now she could rest peacefully; the only good thing about death was the eternal slumber that accompanied it...

"You need to pull yourself together and open your eyes. Or you will never see that boy again."

The thought flooded into her mind and Amaya's eyes widened. That's right. She had promised hadn't she? She knew how much Kanda hated people who break their promises and there was no way that she would betray that boy. She would _never._

She flexed her hand, trying to get her nerves working. Her back started to glowed, responding to her will building up more and more power with every passing second. _I don't want to die._

_I won't die here._

The glass capsule started cracking, as the pressure inside the tank grew and grew till it could no longer accommodate the force it was subjected to. The glass shattered and the water splashed everywhere creating a small flood in the room.

Amaya fell from the broken capsule, landing on all fours, coughing and forcing the water out of her lungs, she paid no attention to the person entering into the room and she was still hunched over when she felt a towel being draped over her shoulders.

She looked up to see the witch smiling at her, Amaya's vision fading as she heard the words.

"Welcome back to the real world."

* * *

General Cross Marian sat in his room, smoking his cigarette and staring at the swill the Order called wine, not really doing anything except thinking, plotting his next move against the Central Agency, his thoughts were interrupted by a huge gust of wind blowing open his windows.

He looked up lazily to see a bird the size of his forearm on the ledge of the window, staring straight at him. Cross got up, setting his glass on the table. He walked over to the fire coloured bird and cocked his head to one side, cigarette in his mouth.

"Are you one of the Witch's servants?"

The bird stopped pecking at itself and turned to Cross, nodding before stretching a wing.

"I'm guessing the kid's awake."

The bird nodded again.

"Then tell your master to send her over." Cross returned the cigarette to his mouth as he watched the amber bird turn around and fly back into the dark and gloomy sky.

Cross smiled, it had been close to three years since he left her to the care of that Witch. He was had been contemplating to go visit the girl, but since he was placed under house arrest by that arse of an Inspector and couldn't even get his own food without being followed. He was somewhat glad the girl was returning to the Order. She had been one of his most problematic pupils but she had the strength and determination unknown to any woman of this age and could perhaps kick the asses of any male Exorcist if prompted. Then again... the only other women that had this kind of strength were the ones in the Order.

"Headquarters is under attack. Repeat. Headquarters is under attack, all Exorcists report to Ark Gate three, two Exorcists are at the scene now."

Cross sighed, taking the cigarette out of mouth and throwing it into ash tray. Time to work... it was time to do the thing he hated the most.

Truth was he would rather drink the rotten wine than work.

On second thought, he would rather work.

* * *

Yondaime Amaya got dressed rather quickly, slipping into the clothes laid out for her the moment she regained consciousness, her body still felt numb and a little clumsy, she buttoned up the oriental style clothes with a little trouble, her fingers slipping the small buttons. Some part of her feared she was being too impatient, rushing back to the Order the moment she woke up, she was in no condition to fight properly but Amaya didn't want to let anyone wait any longer for her. She checked her appearance in the mirror, she was dressed simply, black pants and Chinese style shirt with a red cross starting from the collar and ending where the top split into two around her hips. 1

Not bothering to put any shoes on, she exited the room. Tugging her collar up and straightening her slightly crumpled clothes as she wound through the halls lead by the amber bird which had been waiting outside her room, perched on top of the lamp.

She was led outside, the sky overcast and it was raining rather heavily. She stopped walking the moment she saw the Witch, dressed in a traditional furisode2 with colourful flowers printed on the heavy silk. Her long black hair pulled back a bit with a butterfly barrette and the remaining locks flowed down her back ending near her ankles.3

The Witch held out an awaiting hand covered in the fabric of her own kimono and the bird rested on it, only to melt into her garment as one of the amber coloured flowers. She smiled serenely at the awaiting Exorcist. "Do you think that you are being a little too reckless? After all you can't even control your Innocence properly."

Amaya stiffened at the address, but kept her expression of indifference plastered on her face. "I wish to return to the Order as soon as possible. I've kept them waiting long enough."

"Five years isn't that long y'know."

"To you it is not, to the Order it is more than long, it's an eternity."

The Witch's smiled widened. "I'm guessing there must be another reason you wish to return the order this desperately. Tell me Exorcist, is there someone there that is very dear to you?"

The first person that filled her mind as soon as she heard those words were Kanda, but she quickly pushed all thoughts away as her mouth turned into a frown. "Yes. What's it to you?"

"Just curious that's all." The Witch smiled and extended her hand once more, "Send Cross my regards."

And the flowers from the Witch's kimono detached themselves from her kimono and formed a symbol on the ground that glowed brightly. Amaya looked at her own fingers that seemed to form petals and swirl away from her and then back to the Witch, who seemed to be enveloped in light, the place she was in seemed to fade into the light and get farther and farther away. As if she was being dragged slowly away by the swirling mass of strange petals and flowers.

* * *

Cross loaded his gun, firing at the giant Akuma almost lazily, smoking his new cigarette and still having a bored and uncaring look on his face when a couple of level 3's round up behind him. He shot them all down without batting an eye. The numbers of all the akuma had decreased rapidly since he and the other generals arrived. Tiedoll was right, with all the generals here, the level threes stood no chance.

Out of the corner of his eye, Cross could see a mass of liquid like substance come from the ceiling, it was clear and see-through, but at the same time it swirled like a wet ball and fell out of nowhere.

"What's that? Akuma reinforcements?" Cross hear someone cry out, he could not help but scoff at that remark. Half- hoping that the person inside did not just hear that.

The moment it contacted with the ground however, the elastic like casing burst open and the membrane left seemed to disappear into the ground and air, revealing the black haired exorcist crouched inside, her un-covered eye scanning the area and body tensed for combat.

Cross smiled and returned the cigarette to his lips. _Reckless as always_, he thought to himself. _That kid never changes_. He grinned and yelled from across the laboratory. "Pretty late for someone who likes to be one time."

The girl scoffed and ran her hand through her hair. "You should talk. You're never ontime."

* * *

Author's Note.

Hey! Thanks for reading the first chapter of my Fanfic. It's one am here in Singapore and I'm dead tried, but I just wanted to finish writing out this chapter. I'm going to check through the chapter and fix any mistakes. So by the time you see this I'm already asleep. ^^; I'm sorry if Cross seems a bit OCC... I've never written fan fiction before and I take most of my references from the manga or anime... I'll get around the profile soon! And post on my DA the cover for this fan fiction. –is going to take FOREVER to complete it. - Thanks for the support! =D

1Like the Tsubasa Syaraon's clothes during the Tokyo Revalation's Ark only instead of a bat like symbol it's a cross.

2Here the Witch is wearing a Furisode, a kimono worn by unmarried women and is comparitvely more colourful with swinging sleeves that measure 32 inches to about 42 inches. My reference is form Wikipedia.

3I based the character design of the Witch on Yuko from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles but her personality is more like Shizuka Hio from Vampire Knight.


	3. Chapter 2: Made of Glass

**Chapter 2: Made of Glass**

Yondaime Amaya's eyes scanned its surroundings, from General Tiedoll's Maker of Eden, to General Cloud's parasitic anti-akuma weapon, Lau Shimin. She heard the other General... What was his name again? Never mind... Slashing and killing the akumas with his double-edged sword that was spinning at such a speed, Amaya only saw a blur. Form her perspective it looked like she had arrived a little too late, most of the akumas had been destroyed.

She could feel bile rising in her throat, the acid burning her throat and the feeling of her stomach churning making her dizzy. Her head still hurt and her nerves still a little numb, re-activating her Innocence now would add on to the damage done just over an hour before when she forced synchronisation with it.

"Your late, idiot kid." A familiar voice said from behind her, Amaya turned around to see the person who had brought her to the Order eleven years ago.

"I don't think so; you and the other Generals are all over this." She folded her arms; half glad she didn't need to fight. "I won't be of much help anyway."

"Hmm." General Cross stared at her, eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"Your foot's bleeding," he said as he took another drag of his cigarette. "You aren't wearing shoes either."

"Huh? Oh...must have cut it on the glass." She murmured. "And I had no time to wear shoes."

"You ok kid? You look pale..."

"Just a bit nauseated..."

"Hold your stomach in, we'll get the medical team to look at you after this."

Amaya didn't answer then, she felt bile rise in her throat and her stomach lurched. She hunched over, holding a hand to her mouth. She felt _sick_...

With that, a loud sound echoed through the walls of the fifth laboratory, she had just emptied her stomach contents onto the floor. Amaya wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and she felt dizzier than ever.

"Jeez kid..." Cross looked her over. "Didn't I tell you to hold your stomach in?"

Amaya resisted the urge to point the middle finger, not like him telling her to hold her stomach in would actually result in her not up-chucking, the damned man made himself look like god sometimes...

"Kid."

"What?!"

"Behind you."

Amaya jumped out of the way the moment the level three came into sight, it punched where she was crouched over, and the impact had left a huge dent there. "Wow..." she said, "That was close."

"Time to die human!" the level three cackled, its arm glowing purple as it took a swipe towards her head.

_Innocence Activate._

She caught the akuma's hand just before it hit her head, she held her breath. _That was close..._ she could feel her tattoos spread, curling around her neck, shoulders and winding down her arms, almost no pain this time. _Almost_

She channelled the pressure into her free hand and slammed it into the akuma's body.

The hand covered in the light blue ectoplasm pierced the akuma's metal covered body with apparent ease, she pulled her hand out, and grabbed the akuma's hand which was mere inches away from her face and tore it off. The poisonous blood spurted onto Amaya's relatively clean clothes on splattered onto her face as the level three's mechanical screech drew the attention of some more akuma.

Amaya's hand shot out, grabbing the akuma's head, the metal crumpled like foil in her hand. "Shut up, you're annoying..." The hand glowing blue crushed the akuma's head, silencing it before the owner thrust it into the head of another akuma.

In a matter of seconds, the akuma that had rounded up against her lay on the floor in bloody pieces, they were, now, merely twisted mechanical corpses and dismembered limbs and heads. Amaya cursed inspected her attire, which was, in quite a sorry state... The akumas' blood was spattered all over her clothes, feet, hands and face. Her clothes which were brand new when she had put them on were shredded and dirty. She flexed her fingers, almost no pain this time that was good. Almost no pain.

"You haven't deteriorated in your skills, that's good."

"Hmph." She huffed. "I would have gotten rid of them faster if I had my sword y'know."

"Really? You were fast enough. Go stand with Marie and Miranda while he contacts the Supervisor."

Amaya rolled her eyes, wiping her blood stained hands on her shirt as she jumped towards the giant akuma plant, which happened to be a sort of giant egg which was dark matter.

"Amaya!"

Yondaime Amaya turned to face the Exorcist that had called out her name, the tall Austrian man named Noise Marie, who was standing next to another Exorcist that Amaya had never met before.

She held out a bloodied hand, of which was clasped immediately and pulled into a bone crushing hug. "You're alive!"He cried, squeezing the small frame of the girl in his giant arms. "And you're as small as ever."

"Thanks..." Amaya gave him a wry smile as she was let down, she gestured to the female Exorcist with her other bloodied hand. "Who's this Marie?"

"Her name's Miranda Lotto, and that's her Innocence, Time Record. Miranda, this is Yondaime Amaya, an Exorcist that disappeared years ago."

Amaya held out her hand, which was shook gingerly by Miranda's gloved hand.

"Nice to meet you, Amaya-san"

Amaya gave her a grin and a quick shake of the hand, before she let go, she really didn't want to stain Miranda's gloves with her hands which were covered in dried Akuma blood.

She ran her fingers through her already dirty hair as Marie contacted Supervisor Komui. Her hair had gotten too long; it was almost to her hips. She would have to neaten them up; she honestly didn't want Kanda to see her with blood splattered all over and her hair in a mess. She could hear Marie talking to Komui through a something that was roughly the size of a marble or grape.

"We're going to destroy the Egg."

Amaya looked up from her spot on the floor as the Generals gathered. Cross had a hand to his ear, and in his other, Judgement, his innocence. "What?" she asked thoroughly confused.

"The Akuma Generator, we're going to destroy it." Cross looked at his first apprentice with an annoyed look, making Amaya realise that the statement was not directed at her but a mere repetition of what Cross had heard. "To destroy it, Klaud, Sokalo and I have to attack it all at once, I'm not sure if it will work Komui, it's a lump of Dark Matter after all."

Cross paused for a while before replying to the person on the other end. "Guess we have no choice huh? Ok then, whenever you're ready Miranda."

Amaya watched as the German woman took a deep breath, in her hand was a spinning disk with that glowed a soft green and greatly resembled a record disk.

_Humans..._

Amaya's head snapped up at the faint whisper, it was then followed by the sound of squelching water and popping bubbles. And it was getting closer.

"Amaya."

Probably thirty meters away.

"Amaya?"

Ten now.

"Amaya?!"

Five.

Four

"Amaya get your ass over here!"

Three.

Two.

One...

The slap that Cross had given her resounded off the Laboratory's wall. And Amaya swore she felt her jaw fly out of her mouth, the moment she felt the impact. "Stop daydreaming you idiot, and get ready!" Amaya found it hard to block out Cross's furious voice and concentrate on that sound, it wasn't that close anymore, Cross's slap had distracted her and allowed whatever it was to slip right beneath her feet. Her eyes widened as she realised where the squelching sound was coming from now, it was louder and reaching a climax, she turned her head towards the sound, ignoring Cross's loud voice booming in her ear.

"MIRANDA!"

The liquid seemed to have a mind of its own as it enveloped Miranda's slim profile in a flash, Marie's hands dived into the liquid as it carried her up and away from the Exorcists standing around the Egg.

"You will return my Master's Egg." Its alien voice said as the water formed a gigantic monster that loomed over the Egg like a predator over its dead prey. "This woman has such a bothersome Innocence," she said while looking inside herself, where Miranda was struggling to breathe, writhing and fighting against the water before letting out a last gasp of air, with that, her Innocence, Time Record ceased working. And Amaya watched in shock as she felt the Egg sink into the black nothingness which was the enemy's Ark.

Amaya felt someone warp and arm around her waist and pull her away from the sinking egg and onto one of the railings. She watched as Marie activated his own Innocence and the strings wrapped around the top of the egg to prevent it from sinking even further.

"How's your long range mode now?" Cross asked, as he set her down.

"With my current state, I can do only one crucial blow, anything else after that would be either too weak to kill or I would damage my nerves even further."

Cross returned his sight to the battlefield and thought for a moment before replying. "Channel enough energy for that blow and I will call you when we need it, but for now Klaud, Sokaro and I will handle the Noah.

"Yes sir"

"And Amaya."

Amaya flinched, no doubt scared about Cross yelling at her for ignoring him. She wasn't prepared for what he said next.

"You did well."

Amaya's eyes widened as she watched her Teacher walk closer to the Noah, cocking his gun and giving her the same smirk.

"Thanks, Shisou."

Amaya closed her eyes, feeling the energy surge from her tattoo on her back and shoulders and spreading over her body, she couldn't hear much except the occasional yells from the fight. She lifted her arms and stretched her left hand in front of her; the other held out two fingers and pointed it at her elbow. The coil inside seemed to tighten as she channelled more pressure into her arms, it was almost about to snap now.

"Amaya fire now!"

She opened her eyes and the coil snapped.

But along with the coil was the sound of something breaking again.

* * *

Cross watched as Amaya, who was now engulfed in the blue flames, opened her eyes. The swirling ball hovering just above where her hand met the arm shrunk and shot out. As it hit the Akuma Egg along with his, Klaud and Sokalo's attacks, the whole place started to shake violently, trembling under the force of four high level attacks at once.

The place was engulfed in a bright light and smoke, Cross shielded his eyes for a minute and after the smoke had cleared and the light gone, he turned his attention back to the Enemy Ark, of which seemed to have a small string of ripples from where the egg had just been. "You're a terrible Master; you fired at full blast even though you knew he was going in."

"Heh, we're both critical now. He should be able to survive that."

Just as Cross said that, Allen jumped out of the Ark, an unconscious Miranda in his arms, his jump sent fragments of the Egg flying in all directions. "You're terrible." He muttered.

"I trusted you to make it through that, Idiot Apprentice."

He heard static on his communicator, and Komui's worried voice asking about the situation now. "We've destroyed it Komui." He said, looking at all the other Exorcists except one. Cross turned around, expecting Amaya to be right behind him, listening in to what he was saying. Only she was on her knees gripping her arms tightly, her knuckles white. She stood in the same spot she had fired that blast, sweating bullets and gasping for breath.

"Amaya?"

She didn't reply, her face was covered under her bangs and her breath was shaky. She let a strangled gasp as Cross heard the wet popping sound of her bones dislocating. "Shit! Amaya!"

He crossed the distance between them effortlessly, he reached out a hand to touch her back but stopped halfway, remembering the first time this had happened. Amaya's nerves were unstable from the tank and invoking her Innocence did not help with the recovery process. As Cross looked at his apprentice who looked like she would shatter to pieces any minute now. He remembered that even though she was twenty-three, she still had the mind of an unpredictable and unstable teenager, who could break at any given time.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hey. Sorry for the late updates. you must hate me for not updating sooner. But I'm kinda lazy to write out all of the crap that comes before Yuu and Amaya meet. ==;;; I've planned for Yuu and Amaya to meet soon, so im sorry if its been getting to draggy... Please review~! I like reviews and they motivate me to wrirte. =)

And i have the cover page for A Thousand Years of Cherry Blossoms! Link is on my profile.


	4. Chapter 3: Deliver us

**Chapter 3: Deliver Us**

The pain was so intense that Amaya thought she was going to die.

It was just like when she had first synchronised with her Innocence over a decade ago, when she was young and inexperienced when her body just refused to respond to the Innocence when her muscles screamed in agony, and her head was throbbing so hard she thought it would snap into two. She didn't try to wipe away the tears streaming down her face and hold back the small whimper she choked out. One hand dragged lines across the metal floor and the other clutched her shoulder so hard that her nails dug into the skin and drew blood. The tattoo on her back swirled out of control, the black and blue lines moved beneath her skin, and messed up her nerves and muscles. Amaya could feel her heartbeat thudding in her ears, ringing and blocking out everything else.

She concentrated on the rhythmic beating of her own heart. Meditation, she had been taught how to control her own pain, how to calm herself down.

The agonising seconds turned to minutes, and the pain seemed to dull down, the loud throbbing had turned into a softer thud, her mind was clear enough to let her think.

She let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding and let go of her bleeding arms, the blood stuck to her skin and the coppery scent of her own blood made her a little more dizzy.

"Can you stand?" Cross asked.

"Yeah..." She said weakly, her limbs throbbed and her legs felt weak as if she were going to collapse any moment now.

"You're going to see a doctor now."He said sternly, "the worst is over."

_Kekeke..._

"Cross..." She said weakly, her eyes landed on the Level Four the same time she heard the white haired exorcist contact the wall, Cross was wrong. Her eyes widened as it turned towards them.

The worst wasn't over.

The worst didn't have to come, since...

The worst was already here.

And it came in the form of a Level Four Akuma.

Oh Joy...

This was going to be one long night...

"_Warning, a level four Akuma has invaded our grounds; the fifth lab had been annihilated. The whereabouts of the exorcists are unknown."_

"Che..."

Kanda Yu didn't have his Innocence, it had gotten destroyed when he fought with the bloody Noah of Wrath, but he wasn't going to be a coward, not when _that_ was here

He ran towards Komui, sword raised, the level four was about to take the Supervisor's head off but he had gotten there in time.

PACHIN- the sound of metal meeting metal could be heard, along with the shard of metal crumbling to the ground.

"Che... Komui you bastard, you should work on the weapon's store house."

"Kanda-kun!"

_Hehehehehehehehehehehehe..._

"Get back Komui."

"Kanda! You don't have you're anti-akuma weapon!"

Kanda reached for the other sword he had on his back, drawing it he said. "I'll make do; I'm not going to die that easily."

The level four laughed again, the childish laugh sent shivers down all their spines. This monster annihilated the Fifth laboratory. Only Kanda seemed to face it with indifference, sword in hand.

"Another brave one eh?"The level four did somersaults in mid air, as if it was bored.

Kanda braced himself, positioning his sword and sliding into his battle stance.

_I will not die, I will not die, I will not die..._

The words repeated in his head like a mantra, and everything happened in slow motion. Kanda's eyes widened as the Level Four disappeared from in front of his and materialised behind him, he heard the blast before he had ever felt it, and when he did, he realised he was sent flying across the large hall. The Level Four sent another onslaught of blasts at him, he closed his eyes, waiting for the impact.

It never came.

Instead, someone was deflecting the blasts and defending him, the person that stood there was an asian lady. The shimmer in her hair made him think of his previous mentor.

_Amaya?_

_The person that stood there was not Yondaime Amaya._

_It couldn't be._

_Yondaime had died in a mission five years ago._

_But if that was so..._

_Who as she?_

She had Amaya's face, the too-defined-jaw-line, straight nose and the slightly peachy skin that was a signature of the orient. The familiar stranger's build was the same as hers too, slightly taller than average, but slender and slightly muscular limbs and the black hair that spilled over her shoulders like a waterfall.

And the tattoos...

The same swirls of blue around her exposed arms, where the fabric had been ripped off.

Only the familiar stranger's eyes burned the colour of blue fire, the intensity in them almost bewitching...

Kanda let out a breath, he almost couldn't help himself. "Amaya..."

The stranger turned to face him, her expression one of relief and joy, the eyes of blue fire died down to the muted ocean that was similar to his own. She jogged to his side, ignoring the Level four. "You alright?"She asked, a hand hovering just above his wound.

"It will heal, "he said calmly. Putting a hand over hers, he couldn't believe it. "How are you-?"

"I've got you now exorcist..."

The level four charged at them, and Amaya's hand disappeared from beneath his and was gone from his sight. Kanda felt frustrated, just when he could ask her what happened five years ago, they just had to be interrupted.

_KACHIN_

The sound of metal clashing with metal rang through the hall, and the Level Four along with Amaya were twisted in a grotesque parody of an embrace. Her azure eyes glowed brighter and the menacing blue aura around her spreaded like wild fire. The Level four struggled, its hand clawing at her shoulders, ripping the cloth, as she threw it into the opposite wall.

The groaning of metal could be heard and Amaya followed suit, summoning two swirls of energy in her out stretched arms, she slammed it into the Level Four.

Kanda grabbed his sword and pushed himself to his feet. "Amaya!"he called out.

"I'm fine! Komui! Go get the Innocence! "

Kanda stopped his pursuit as the Head Officer of the Black Order ran up to him, with Chaoji at his side. "Amaya-san is that you?" He shouted.

"Yeah it's me; you guys go get the innocence! I don't think I can keep this up for long."

Kanda stared at Amaya, she was panting in uneven gasps, and sweating so much, it had soaked through her clothes. She wasn't in a good condition to fight. And then he turned to Komui.

The man in-charge of the Order seemed torn, as he stared at the MIA apostle battle against the akuma. Kanda knew Komui was seeing what he saw, that Amaya wouldn't be able to hold out the Level Four. His hand seemed frozen on the com button of his head piece.

"Komui." Kanda's hand tightened around his sword, they needed more time, and here he was wasting it...

"Section leaders, listen up. I won't be repeating this again, we are evacuating headquarters."

Kanda thought Komui would have taken forever to make his descion...

Amaya wrestled with the Akuma, which seemed to be taunting her in almost every single way, making comments on her weakness and other things. Amaya felt like ripping its tongue out...

"Section leaders, listen up. I won't be repeating this again, we are evacuating headquarters."

Amaya heard the announcement boom across the loudspeakers, Komui finally made his decision, taking Hevlaska's advice.

"So the Head Officer is getting away, eh?" The Level Four said childishly.

"What's it to you?" She answered, hitting the akuma across the head, only to be hit in the stomach and thrown into the another wall by it.

"Hehehehe... Once I'm finished with you, I'll get the head of the Head Officer" The Level Four stuck one hand out like it did to Skulls and shot another wave of blasts at her. Amaya closed her eyes at the bright light, but opened them in time to register the blasts and dodge. She used all her strength and speed to lunge herself at the akuma and hold it in a head lock. "You're not going anywhere, you're staying here with me." She said the Level Four, which was now furiously trying to escape her hold.

"Amaya!" She heard her name being called and she looked up to the Japanese teen.

"Go." Was all she said, before the akuma broke itself from her grasp and sent her flying towards them. But instead of crashing into the floor, she rounded up and landed on her feet, facing the threat.

"Go," she repeated, holding out another hand to summon another sphere of energy. "I'll hold it off, while you get the Innocence."

"Amaya-!" Kanda meant to tell her to run, meant to tell her not to waste her life, but his words died on his tongue when he saw Amaya turn towards him, pleading him with the only thing she could use that didn't break the courageous bravado she had.

Her sky blue eyes told him to go.

So he did.

Only because he was being dragged away by Komui.

Author's Note:

Hello! I'm very sorry for not updating earlier! I have been busy with school and exams. And have been procrastinating with my writing... :/ I hope this chapter's not too short... I'll try and lengthen the next few ones.


End file.
